Putin’s Latin America visit proves mutual benefits of cooperation

Russian President Vladimir Putin’s recent visit to Latin America has been hailed asa significant step toward building closer economic ties with countries in the area. During the trip Putin visited Brazil, Argentina, Cuba, and Nicaragua, and met with 11 regional leaders.

Wrapping up his six-day tour around Latin America, Russian
President Vladimir Putin said on July 16that Russia
needs to “re-establish a presence in this extremely interesting, very promising
region of the world.”

The Russian leader’s visit to the southern hemisphere
speaks to Russia’s awareness of the growing significance of the Latin American
corner of the New World in the global economy and in global politics.

“The fact that Vladimir Putin managed to set aside an
entire week for a trip to the region is very revealing,” Director of the
Institute of Latin America at the Russian Academy of Sciences Vladimir Davydov
told RBTH.

“It would seem to be an unaffordable luxury when there is
an acute crisis on Russia’s borders. However, this tour is as relevant as ever.
At a time when the West is trying to lure Russia into a ‘Ukrainian
snare’, it showed that Russia is entirely capable of regaining old allies and
of making new ones,” he said.

Putin’s visit demonstrated that Russia and Latin America
need each other. Cuba, where Putin kicked off his tour last Friday, saw Russia
write off 90 percent of the Caribbean nation’sold $31.7-billion debt left over
from Soviet times The other 10 percent will be repaid over the course of a
decade and reinvested into the Cuban economy.

Russian companies are to be involved in geological
exploration on the Cuban shelf, the construction of hydro-electric power plants
and a transportation hub, and they will take part in modernizing the port
and creating a special economic zone.

In Nicaragua, where Putin flew on an unannounced visit, the
parties discussed the potential for multilateral cooperation with Moscow.
Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega was not exaggerating when he said that his
Russian colleague’s lightning visit was historic.

In addition, Russia will provide Nicaragua with
agricultural machinery and dedicated repair facilities, and it may even locate
terrestrial Glonass stations on Nicaraguan soil. But most importantly, Russia
will provide assistance in building the Interoceanic Grand Canal, which is intended to serve as
an alternative to the Panama Canal.

Strategic partners

The Russian president had larger-scale meetings with the
leaders of Argentina and Brazil. According to Putin, modern-day Argentina is
one of Russia’s top partners in Latin America.

“Our countries have similar positions on key international
problems, and together they defend the principles of a multi-polar world, equal
rights, mutual respect, and the indivisibility of security,” Putin said in
Buenos Aires.

Argentinian President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner is one
of the few world leaders to have expressed solidarity with the Russian position
on Crimea. Fernandez publicly rebuked the West for what she saw as double
standards regarding the referendums in Crimea and the Falkland Islands.

Related:

The negotiations in Buenos Aires featured discussions of
joint projects in energy, transport, civil aviation, the peaceful use of outer
space, and healthcare. Putin and Fernandez signed intergovernmental agreements
on nuclear energy and jurisprudence, as well as an interagency contract on mass
communications.

In Brazil, besides handing Russia the baton to host the
World Cup in 2018 and participating in a two-day BRICS summit, the agenda also
included serious economic content. The two countries signed a thick package of
documents on energy, aviation, military and technical cooperation, customs
operations, and a memorandum on installing Glonass stations.

However, the state of Russian-Brazilian trade was a cause
of concern for both presidents. Even though trade between Russia and Brazil is
greater than with other Latin American countries, Russian business is still not
well known in Brazil, and exports and imports are not very diversified. The
mutual settlement system also remains vulnerable, as does investment and
scientific cooperation.

Putin met with presidents from 11 South American countries
during his stay in Brazil. The Russian president held bilateral negotiations
with three of them: Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, Uruguayan President
Jose Mujica, and Bolivian President Evo Morales. The results of these talks
once again confirmed that Russia and Latin America are highly interested in developing
their ties.